The role of internal Political Party mechanisms in resolving disputes from Election Primaries in Kenya, a case study of the 2013 Political Party Primaries.

Abstract

The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of internal mechanisms by political parties in resolving disputes from their nominations in Kenya. It was guided by three objectives, namely: to examine the capacity of Political Parties internal mechanisms to resolve electoral disputes arising from their nominations, to establish the nature and impact of intra party electoral disputes on the performance of the political parties in the general elections and to investigate the relationship between political party and state electoral institutions in resolving disputes arising from political party primaries. The study used both primary and secondary sources of data by conducting Key Informant Interviews and relevant literature review available online from the Political Parties, IEBC Dispute resolution Committee, IEBC website and the electronic and print media. The researcher adopted institutionalism theory as the theoretical framework that guided the research process. A cross sectional research design was employed with the sample frame comprising of political parties which participated in the 2013 general elections, had disputes during their primaries for the positions of Member of National Assembly (MNA) and had representation in the eleventh parliament. In addition state agencies responsible for resolution of party nomination disputes also formed part of the sample frame. It was found out that all political parties in Kenya had internal dispute resolution mechanisms with different names in compliance with the requirements of the law. However, all of them lack the requisite capacity to resolve party disputes. It was also found out that disputes emanating from party primaries impact negatively on the performance of the party either in the disputed position or other electoral positions the party contests. Similarly, the disputes weaken the party especially when one of the disputants defect to an opposing party. As regards to the relationship of state institutions and party institutions, it was found out that their decisions affected the performance of the party institutions. The study recommended that internal political party dispute resolution mechanisms be strengthened and institutionalized in order to be able to resolve the disputes for the benefit of the parties and also to advance democratic ideals.